An automotive vehicle, in particular an agricultural machine which can perform various operations as it moves along the ground, has a great many instruments which allow the driver to monitor the various functions of the machine, and a great many controls which allow the driver to vary these functions. It is necessary that the instruments be in a location where the operator sees them easily without unnecessarily taking his or her eyes off the ground ahead of the machine in the direction of travel thereof. Similarly the controls must be within easy reach, and must be so positioned that after some experience with the machine the operator can easily find and operate the controls without having to grope or look for them.
A standard solution is to mount all of the instrument and control devices in a so-called panel, normally constituted as a box. This box or panel is frequently positioned next to the operator's seat, normally on the right-hand side thereof relative to the forwardly facing driver's seat. Such an arrangement has some advantages, but also has the disadvantage that some of the controls and instruments at least are positioned so that the driver has to take his or her eyes completely off the ground in front of the machine to look at or find them, and similarly the controls are frequently so positioned that the driver must lean into an uncomfortable position to reach them.